Red-Light Cameras: Don’t Run Legislative Light

A month ago, state Sen. Jeff Brandes did a good impression of Sgt. Joe Friday of “Dragnet” fame, saying he wanted just “the facts” about the use of red-light cameras on state and local roads.

A month ago, state Sen. Jeff Brandes did a good impression of Sgt. Joe Friday of “Dragnet” fame, saying he wanted just “the facts” about the use of red-light cameras on state and local roads.Brandes, a Republican whose district includes parts of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, is chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. He is also an unabashed opponent of red-light cameras, which local governments have installed throughout Florida.In the Aug. 2 editorial, “Red-Light Cameras: People Deserve the Facts,” he received deserved credit for suspending his personal view until a state agency, the Office of Program Policy and Government Accountability, examined red-light camera policies and practices across the state.Brandes specifically wanted OPPAGA to study or re-examine:■ The standards that police use to judge whether to ticket motorists who fail to make a complete stop — at the appropriate place — while turning right on a red light. Officers can also take into account the speed at which drivers made the turn. In sum, Brandes wanted to know whether the rules should be standardized statewide.■ The timing of yellow warning lights at intersections where red-light cameras are installed. Television station Channel 10, WTSP-St. Petersburg, has reported that a number of cities and counties in the Tampa Bay area reduced the duration of yellow lights to the state Department of Transportation’s minimum.“This study will give us the facts and, armed with this data, we will be addressing red-light cameras next legislative session,” Brandes told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

SAFETY LASTWell, the next legislative session doesn’t open until March 4, 2014, and OPPAGA has not completed its study.But, Wednesday, Brandes filed SB 114. If passed as written, the bill would essentially repeal the state law — approved just three years ago — that allows cities and counties to install and operate red-light cameras.So much for waiting, Sgt. Friday style, until all the facts are in.In a statement issued yesterday, Brandes made clear that his mind is made up. “We have had red-light cameras in Florida for over three years. They were initially sold as safety devices, but I have come to firmly believe that they are now being used as backdoor tax increases,” Brandes said. “We have seen municipalities that have installed these devices shorten yellow-light times and set arbitrary standards on right-turn-on-red violations. I believe cities will continue to install these devices if left unchecked.”Brandes says he is confident the OPPAGA study will produce results consistent with his views.However, the city of Lakeland says that, in the past 11 months, it lost $26,157 on its nine cameras. Nine more cameras were added last week. Violations recorded by the new cameras will produce warning letters until Oct. 1. Then tickets start that day.Brandes’ stance also undermines OPPAGA’s reputation as an independent, unbiased agency. What’s more, Brandes’ narrow focus on the revenue generated by the use of cameras ignores the safety value of the installations.

CAMERAS SAVE LIVESReports by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and studies by private-sector groups, such as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, have concluded that intersections with red-light cameras have fewer crashes, including fatalities, than those without the cameras.Furthermore, it only takes common sense to believe that drivers are more likely to stop at red lights if they know the intersection is monitored and violation of the law will result in a fine.Improvements can be made. Cutting yellow-light durations to the minimum is wrong. The timing of yellow warning lights should be based solely on safety considerations.Reasonable regulations can, and should, ensure that red-light cameras are installed and operated according to standards that discourage abuse and encourage safety.In the next legislative session, safety, coupled with fair camera and traffic light operation, should be the rule — not the chairman’s way or the highway.